Minute For Mission – Operation Sharing

October 25, 2015

Just over 30 years ago in Woodstock, Ontario, a storefront Meeting Place was established where people affected by an economic downturn could gather for help and support. The need for services has grown, but so has the response to the need. The original Meeting Place set up by five United Churches, with the help of our gifts for Mission and Service, is now Operation Sharing, a ministry to disadvantaged people in Oxford County that is supported by 45 churches from 9 denominations. In Woodstock facilities for services are provided by United, Baptist, and Anglican churches, and in Ingersoll the facility is a former downtown library. Under the direction of Chaplain and Director Steve Giuliano, the services offered have grown from two to a dozen. They include a noon meal for 60 people, the Inn Out of the Cold, a Dealing with Addictions course open to all, a Christmas Place, a Food for Friends program, and the Creative Concept Training Centre. Food for Friends came from a desire to find an alternative to food banks to get food to those in need. The result was to close the food bank and issue food cards that can be used at local grocery stores. The Creative Concept Training Centre offers a six-day course on finding solutions to poverty. It is now a credit course for theological students at the University of Western Ontario’s Huron College in London, Ontario. Mission and Service gifts help give tangible expression to the phrase “To love and serve others.” Our gifts make this ministry of food, service, and love possible. Thank you, and please join me in continuing to give generously
Mighty and tender God, through our gifts for Mission and Service we respond to your call to mend the world.